Monday, May 27, 2013

White Bean Rosemary Soup with Jumbo Croutons & Fresh Basil

Trying out the Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan cookbook by Dreena Burton. It
appears to be pretty similar to the way I approach food and cooking.
Has made for some good week night ideas (use the book for ideas on how
to fake what I have in the house into a meal). This recipe I think I
came close to following. I cooked up the dried cannellini beans that
Mark and Betty gave us for Christmas to make this soup. Should have
posted back when I made this in April because I can't remember much
now. Per the recipe 2/3 of the beans are puréed and the remaining 1/3
is whole which I think is a great idea.

Partial Try at Greatness

This is our second go at some recipes by Jason Cunningham from Great
Chefs Cook Vegan. We made a version for our anniversary but we didn't
have the fava beans. This time we skipped the peppers.

Pictured is Sunflower Seed Risotto served with Fennel, Carrots, and
Fava Beans with Carrot Purée and Fava Purée. Also made the Butternut
Squash Soup with some substitutions and served with the Granny Smith
Apple and Radish Slaw.

A good meal but way too much work. Since I walked to the market to
get the fennel and made the broth all in the same day it may have been
a bit harder than it needed to be.

Whole Lot of Spring

Herbivore Spring Salad
Fava beans
Asparagus
Mint leaves
Lemon juice
Olive oil
Sugar
Salt
Pepper
Whole wheat orzo

This started out as Bittman's Fava Bean and Mint Salad with Asparagus
and became a pasta salad by upping the dressing a bit and adding the
orzo based on a memory of an asparagus salad from Culinate.

At the first bite I was not sure we had a winner but after a few bites
I could not stop raving. Found the left overs 5 days later and still
great. Leaving the mint leaves whole was a hard leap for me but made
for a successful salad feel.

Herbivore Mixed Vegetable Soup


Herbivore Mixed Vegetable Soup
2 tbsp canola oil
1 large onion chopped
3 stalks celery chopped
3 carrots peeled and chopped
2 sweet potatoes peeled and chopped
1 buttercup squash peeled, seeded, and chopped
1/2 lb fingerling potatoes chopped
3 tbsp fresh ginger peeled and minced
3 cloves garlic chopped
1 dash ground chipotle 
1/2 tsp Mo Better Hot Bishops Crown Pepper Powder
6 cups vegetable broth*
1 lb tofu puréed with 2 tbsp lime juice to smooth cream
2 ears of corn, kernels sliced off
1 bunch of chives chopped
Salt
Infused canola oil for serving

In soup pan, sauté first three veggies in oil.  
Add next three veggies and continue to cook. 
Add ground peppers, garlic, and ginger and sauté 1 min.  
Add broth and bring to a boil.  
Simmer for 45 minutes.  
Use immersion blender to puree soup.  
Purée tofu in food processor.  
Add tofu to soup and mix.  
Add water to desired consistency. 
Add salt to taste.
Stir in corn kernels and chives.  
Serve drizzled with oil. 

Broth was made with onion, leeks, fennel, carrots, celery, 
parsley, black pepper, salt, bay, wine, and water.  
Infused oil was made with canola oil and leafy greens.

Made for a nice filling soup.  
Probably could have left out the potato skins and maybe 
added the cobs to the soup while cooking.  
Would have used olive oil but was out.  
Measurements from memory so are just a general guide.

Herbivore Whole Wheat Waffle with Mango Butter


Herbivore Whole Wheat Waffle - Try 3
0.25 Cup      Flour
0.25 Cup      Whole wheat flour
1 Tsp            Corn meal
1 Tsp            Sugar
1 TbspFlax meal
1 Tsp            Baking powder
0.5 Cup         Soy milk
2 TbspWater
1 Tbsp.         Corn oil

Mix dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients. Stir together with fork and let react. Will be runny at first but soy milk and baking powder will react and mixture will thicken and expand. Makes two round waffles (almost). Topped with store bought mango butter which is made of mango purée, sugar, pectin, citric acid, and natural coconut flavor.

Nice breakfast for one with some strong black coffee. 

440 calories for the two waffles plus mango butter at 150 calories for 6 tbsp.